The present invention relates to an intermediate-lever device in a parking brake system, for connecting brake cables to transmit a brake actuation force to a parking brake.
An intermediate-lever device including an intermediate lever is provided to couple a brake cable connected to a control member (such as a foot or hand lever), to another brake cable connected to a parking brake mechanism for applying a parking brake to a wheel of a vehicle. Such an intermediate-lever device is used particularly in a parking brake system wherein the control member is a foot-operated pedal lever.
A traditional intermediate-lever device is disposed on the lower side of a floor panel of a vehicle. This location of the device inherently renders the device as well as brake cables connected thereto subject to muddy water and other foreign matter, which will cause or promote development of rust on the device and the cables, resulting in the intermediate lever being prevented from operating in a smooth manner, and further leading to reduction in durability or service life of the cables. In the meantime, the intermediate-lever device is commonly equipped with a cable adjusting mechanism for adjusting a tension of the brake cable connected to the intermediate lever. In this instance, the adjusting mechanism is also located under the floor panel of the vehicle. This location makes it relatively difficult to gain access to the adjusting mechanism for tension adjustment of the cable. In many cases, the intermediate-lever device is disposed in a tunnel formed on the lower surface of the floor panel of a vehicle, i.e., disposed in an elongate recess formed in a vehicle body along its length from the front towards the rear. On a front-engine/front-drive vehicle (hereinafter referred to as an F--F car), however, such a tunnel is made smaller in size. As a result, the F--F car encounters a difficulty in installing the intermediate-lever device in the tunnel. This problem associated with the intermediate-lever device is inherent in an F--F car.